Ramona Koval - A Letter to Layla: Travels to Our Deep Past and Near Future

How might the origins of our species inform the way we think about our planet? At a point of unparalleled crisis, can human ingenuity save us from ourselves? 

Much-loved writer and journalist Ramona Koval travels the globe in a quest for answers, and encounters the unexpected. The result is A Letter to Layla: Travels to our deep past and near future, a kaleidoscopic portrait of humanity, written with Ramona's signature warmth, insight and curiosity. 

Ramona appears in-conversation with Lee Kofman.  

This FREE event will take place on Zoom. The Zoom meeting details form part of your ticket, emailed to you after registration. You can also pre-order copies of A Letter to Layla and have them shipped to you anywhere in Australia for free! 

About the Book

How might the origins of our species inform the way we think about our planet? At a point of unparalleled crisis, can human ingenuity save us from ourselves? 

Much-loved writer Ramona Koval travels the globe in a quest for answers, and encounters the unexpected. She talks to an eminent paleo-archaeologist over a two-million-year-old skull in the Republic of Georgia, meets the next generation of robots in Berlin, attends a festival against death in California and explores an ice-age cave in southern France, speaking with the world’s leading authority on cave art.

Between these and other adventures she returns to her ever-engaging granddaughter Layla, whose development in infancy spurs Koval to find out what makes us human, what separates us from the other apes.

Full of revealing exchanges with scientists and writers whose knowledge of the past and visions for the future could hold the key to our next evolution, A Letter to Layla will surprise and delight in equal measure.  

About the Author

Ramona Koval is a writer and journalist, a former broadcaster, and an honorary fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Advancing Journalism. Her books include Bloodhound: Searching for My Father (2015) and By the Book: A Reader’s Guide to Life (2012).

About the Moderator

Lee Kofman is the author of two memoirs: Imperfect: How our bodies shape the people we become (Affirm Press, 2019), which was shortlisted for Nib Literary Award 2019, and The Dangerous Bride (Melbourne University Press, 2014). She has also edited two anthologies of essays, Rebellious Daughters (Ventura Press, 2016) and Split (Ventura Press, 2019) that feature prominent Australian writers. 

Lee’s numerous short stories, short creative non-fiction and poetry have been published widely in Australia and internationally. She holds a PhD in Social Sciences (RMIT), Master of Creative Writing (University of Melbourne) and Bachelor of Social Work (University of Melbourne).